Tuesday, November 22, 2016

CURMUDGUCATION: Dear Dan Rather

Some disasters hit us with a sudden and unexpected fury like 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina. But some boil beneath the surface wreaking destruction without enough of us paying attention.

If you want to see the hair on the back of my neck stand up in anger ask me about one such disaster - our support for public education.

Please excuse me as I vent for a moment but If you aren't troubled by the state of public education in America - from kindergarten through college - you should be. If you really believe in making America great you should double down on the best investment in our social compact. I regret to say that Donald Trump, his close advisors, and many in Congress seem to be charting a course in the exact opposite direction.

I don't understand why public education has become such a polarizing issue. It wasn't that way when I was growing up or even for much of my life. But take my home state of Texas, where a Republican state legislature has set about to willfully and systematically decimate the state"s schools and public universities with cuts and politicized curricula on issues like history and science.

Now I read today that 70 percent of high school students aren't ready for college. 70 percent! Please check the story below from The Dallas Morning News in which business leaders in low-tax, pro-business Texas say the lack of spending on public schools is a long term recipe for disaster, or as CURMUDGUCATION: Dear Dan Rather: